Hilux leaf spring question

Post by **diesel028** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 9:48 pm

My hilux sits a little lower at the front than at the back. What would be the best way to lift the front and level the whole thing out? Reset the springs or just add say 1 more leaf to the existing pack??

The springs are less than 1 year old and are King Springs HD with 5 in the pack.

Cheers

Post by **hypo** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 9:52 pm

if u add more leaves to the pack it will stiffen then ride and lessen the flex but then if u reset them then they will prolly end up where they r now in another 12 months..

id put in some longer shackles, and wedges under the springs 2 correct the castor

Post by **diesel028** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:11 pm

yea, i wanna do the extended shackle thing. Just waiting for some $$$, then I'll be looking into it.....might just wait til then and fix it up.

Post by **hypo** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:14 pm

yeah cool

Post by **Area54** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:23 pm

Yeah, what Hypo said, did the same to the Camolux with success. One thing to watch though, you will need to lengthen your front shaft or buy a spacer - might as well move your front diff forward at the same time before you lengthen the front shaft, and shorten the steering draglink if you have push-pull steering. And also shorten the torque rod, but do all this after you have lengthened the shackles and put in the wedges to correct the caster. The 'simple mods' never end... but thats the fun in it!

Post by **diesel028** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:30 pm

The 'simple mods' never end... but thats the fun in it!

Hehe........I might need you to repeat all that after the shackles go in

Will I need an adjustable torque rod if I extend my shackles tho?

Post by **Area54** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 11:47 pm

diesel028 wrote:
The 'simple mods' never end... but thats the fun in it!

Hehe........I might need you to repeat all that after the shackles go in
Will I need an adjustable torque rod if I extend my shackles tho?

I would say yes - you will alter the distance between the mounts. You can make your existing one adjustable if you are handy with a welder,a hacksaw and a drill with a 16mm drill bit. 16mm threaded cyclone rod, 2 joining nuts and 1 normal nut for same rod is all the materials you will need - all available at Bunnings. Let me know if you want more instructions.

IMO the torque rod is needed if you still have push-pull, much to the dismay of people who told me otherwise, the torque rod has not hurt in the flex department. It will prevent the front shaft from separating when climbing ledges.

Post by **beebee** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:21 am

Wouldn't the draglink be fouled by the u bolts if wedges were used - or are we talking really thin wedges?

Post by **hypo** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:59 am

just ya standard caster wedges Dave, they r fairly thin anyway like 6 or 8mm thick at one and and like 1 or less at the other

Post by **Wendle** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 7:08 am

your rear shckles are inverted as they are, you really want to lower the back a bit to match the front. pull a leaf out of the back..

Post by **diesel028** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:06 am

which one from the back? the thickest one or just one of the thinner ones

Post by **Wendle** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:34 am

the thick ones are the overloadleaves, leave them in there. Leave the one with the military wrap, probably the next one down would be best, or maybe the one after.. 3rd or 4th leaf from the top..

Post by **Area54** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:44 am

Depends on what your pack currently consists of - do you have the 10mm thick overload springs - get rid of them. I now have a 4 leaf pack - down from six (mine are kings spring packs as well, not sure on the lift but they were fairly high) I removed the 2 shortest lowest leaves - these have the greatest influence over the spring pack as they have the least amount of length to allow leverage from the upper leaves on compression.

I have an alloy bobtailed tray, large ARB box filled with stuff, one spare 34 jt2 mounted on the tray and the battery mounted on the chassis behind the cab, to give you an idea of weight, and my suspension is quite balanced front to rear. The springs still have enough strength to allow 5 jt2s on the tray and the ball weight of my box trailer without any real sag probs. I did have a problem with axle wrap, cured it with a track bar, but IMO you need a track bar on any hilux if you wheel it, no matter what the leaf spring setup.

The drop draglink does scrape occasionally, but never binds to the point where I can't steer. As long as you have the flat top u bolts on the steer side you will be fine.

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Hilux leaf spring question

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